How much difference in chain quality?

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Oscarpop

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Just been quoted for 5m 10mm galvanised chain splice to 30m of 13mm rode.

A reputable online chandler just quoted £182

E bay £30. I called the supplier ( who is an online chandler), and he said that 99% of chain is made in China nowadays, and in the 7 years he has been trading, he has never heard of a problem.

I know there was a survey in PBO about chain quality, but can someone please shed some light on this?
 
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The only proof of Chain parameters is the "proof", however you call this in UK, chain must be tested. So see the test - and it's not written in chinese, or so I hope :)
Personally I'm not buying chain from china, you may find a producer, not sure if for just a cheap tiny little bit of chain with splice - but splicing you can make yourself, the components may be cheaper separately. Certainly way cheaper in bulk amounts. Look at some professional store, like for fisheries. You may even find a bit of second-hand good chain leftover, for free.

Then again if the price is right you may go for cheap, to be replaced sooner maybe, as quite possible the "reputable chandler" sells the same. Just a bit of chain and rope is not something they make their reputation on, who would care?

Quite expensive thing is zinc on chain, some producers just save on galvanizing, so there's very little cover.
Saw a chain that rusted in a year, while on a boat I know the chain is 30 years old... This one was hot-dipped as should be (there were standard requirements time ago) at specialty workshop that has equipment for chains, since while putting a lot of zinc on the chain may weld itself with zinc, so to say. So some just dip it a bit only, till it shines.

In such case it may be cheaper in long run to get stainless. Depends how much use it will have, and how sandy a bottom. And how long it'll take you to break that rope and lose the chain :)
 
It was in YM, last month. Main conclusions were that the vast majority of chain is made in China, although I would not put it as high as 99%. I tested a dozen samples and found all the Chinese made chain except one to be good, although Grade 30 the tensiles were all well into grade 40 spec. Galvanising was mostly pretty good. I heard from a contact in the chain business this morning, who tells me the Chinese are investing heavily in more manufacturing equipment, European designed and built out there.

By contrast, the European made stuff was not all that impressive. It made the specifications but only just.

The galvanising on my Italian made chain only lasted three seasons.
 
Make sure you buy test chain, I don't think it's made in China and I'd be suspect of any certificate that says it is.

> stainless

We've seen stainless chain break, caused by crevice corrosion, you don't get that with galvanised chain.
 
prv said:
Crucial question - is there a way of picking out the not-good one in a shop or on a web site?

Pete
Click to expand...

Yes, it's in the article. Cut one link on the side opposite to the weld. Using a vice and an adjustable spanner, bend the weld 90 degrees. A badly made weld will break and poorly adhered galvanising will flake off. It was astonishing to see how we were able to predict the tensile result with this simple test.

Visually not too easy but a good weld is about as long as the wire diameter. The bad one was very short.
 
KellysEye said:
Make sure you buy test chain, I don't think it's made in China and I'd be suspect of any certificate that says it is.
Click to expand...

If you mean 'high test' chain, this is an American term for Grade 40 (actually slightly stronger, sometimes called 42). However, it is made to different dimensions and will not fit European gypsies. Several major UK importers buy from China, e.g. Bradney and William Hacket. They will provide a test certificate.
 
Oscarpop said:
Just been quoted for 5m 10mm galvanised chain splice to 30m of 13mm rode.

A reputable online chandler just quoted £182

E bay £30. I called the supplier ( who is an online chandler), and he said that 99% of chain is made in China nowadays, and in the 7 years he has been trading, he has never heard of a problem.

I know there was a survey in PBO about chain quality, but can someone please shed some light on this?
Click to expand...

Last year I used 5 metres of 9.5mm so-called galvanised chain as a mooring strop from support buoy to deck cleat: after just 8 months it had lost all galvanising along its whole length and was staining everything it touched with rust. This is not the main mooring chain, just the bit from buoy to foredeck.

In previous years I have used a double nylon warp strop with piping for where it came on board, but thought I'd have chain instead last year. I'd like to know how to tell galvanising quality.
 
jwilson said:
I'd like to know how to tell galvanising quality.
Click to expand...

Inspection is really the only method available to you. Here is a modern production chain with just about the least zinc the manufacturer can get away with.
Productionchain.jpg


Here is a regalvanised one with more than you will ever see for sale.
regalvanised.jpg


Having yours regalvanised would be the best option if you could team up with someone else to overcome the minimum order problem
 
>However, it is made to different dimensions and will not fit European gypsies.

It doesn't fit the standard gypsy so just change to the test chain gypsy, all large manufacturers sell them. Test chain has smaller links, we had test chain and a Lofrans winch.
 
parsifal said:
I thought I would follow Eric Hiscock's advice in "Cruising Under Sail" and buy from a British manufacturer so I bought my chain from Griff Chain Ltd, Dudley West Midlands

http://www.griffchains.co.uk/chain.html

As far as I know this is the only firm still manufacturing chain in the UK.
Click to expand...

I asked them several times to submit a sample but they declined. No idea why, I would very much like to have included them.
 
vyv_cox said:
It was in YM, last month. Main conclusions were that the vast majority of chain is made in China, although I would not put it as high as 99%. I tested a dozen samples and found all the Chinese made chain except one to be good, although Grade 30 the tensiles were all well into grade 40 spec. Galvanising was mostly pretty good. I heard from a contact in the chain business this morning, who tells me the Chinese are investing heavily in more manufacturing equipment, European designed and built out there.

By contrast, the European made stuff was not all that impressive. It made the specifications but only just.

The galvanising on my Italian made chain only lasted three seasons.
Click to expand...

Now is that an indication that the Europeans are cutting quality to compete on price with the Chinese in the hope that there are enough punters out there who will believe that European made stuff must be better than Chinese.

As ever there is nothing wrong with stuff made in China as long as you buy from a company that protects it's reputation by ensuring their Chinese contractors manufacture to the quality they require.

If you buy Chinese **** it is the fault of the importer who has failed to ensure sensible quality measures were in place
 
jwilson said:
Last year I used 5 metres of 9.5mm so-called galvanised chain as a mooring strop from support buoy to deck cleat: after just 8 months it had lost all galvanising along its whole length and was staining everything it touched with rust. This is not the main mooring chain, just the bit from buoy to foredeck.
Click to expand...

I guess that your main mooring chain isn't galvanised, and that the galvanised strop is in metal-to-metal contact with the mooring chain through the attachment shackle(s).

If that is the scenario, then the galvanising on the strop will be consumed very rapidly, regardless of quality, because it is "trying to protect" the whole of the submerged mooring chain. (It would need to be wet, but I guess that was the case more often than not last year.)
 
vyv_cox said:
I asked them several times to submit a sample but they declined. No idea why, I would very much like to have included them.
Click to expand...

That's a pity. I fear marketing is not one of Griff's strong points.

Were it not for the fact that I had it made with enlarged links at each end I would offer you a chunk of mine!
 
Oscarpop said:
Just been quoted for 5m 10mm galvanised chain splice to 30m of 13mm rode.

A reputable online chandler just quoted £182

E bay £30. I called the supplier ( who is an online chandler), and he said that 99% of chain is made in China nowadays, and in the 7 years he has been trading, he has never heard of a problem.

I know there was a survey in PBO about chain quality, but can someone please shed some light on this?
Click to expand...

Like others, I'd recommend Bradney Chain, Ive had chain from them and they know what there talking about. Although I don't think they make small link chain any more they do still make big stuff and have all the testing equipment. They will provide test data for the chain they supply.
http://www.bradneychain.com

PS Declared interest, MD is a mate of mine!
 
Adrian said:
Like others, I'd recommend Bradney Chain, Ive had chain from them and they know what there talking about. Although I don't think they make small link chain any more they do still make big stuff and have all the testing equipment. They will provide test data for the chain they supply.
http://www.bradneychain.com

PS Declared interest, MD is a mate of mine!
Click to expand...

I heard from him yesterday. He visited China recently and was impressed by the investment in new chain-making machinery, built locally to a high standard, with input from the German designers.

One point that is conjecture on my part concerns the fact that all the Chinese chain tested came out to Grade 40 specification. I assume that the vast majority of steel production out there is for construction purposes, for which a higher carbon and manganese content would be the norm. So it is probably cheaper for them to buy that in than the low carbon mild steel required for Grade 30.
 
vyv_cox said:
By contrast, the European made stuff was not all that impressive. It made the specifications but only just.

The galvanising on my Italian made chain only lasted three seasons.
Click to expand...


That seems to be a scathing comment for chain which is within spec. If I require Grade 30 chain then I do not accept that
receiving grade 40 is necesserily a good thing especially where the standard of welding might not be as consistant as the weld on the chain which just makes the spec . We operate to a safety factor of 4:1 so as you say in your report we are generally operating well
withoin the limits of grade 30 chain. Lets face it if we took it to the upper limits we would have a hell of a job winding it over the gypsy :o
 
Bilgediver said:
That seems to be a scathing comment for chain which is within spec. If I require Grade 30 chain then I do not accept that
receiving grade 40 is necesserily a good thing especially where the standard of welding might not be as consistant as the weld on the chain which just makes the spec . We operate to a safety factor of 4:1 so as you say in your report we are generally operating well
withoin the limits of grade 30 chain. Lets face it if we took it to the upper limits we would have a hell of a job winding it over the gypsy :o
Click to expand...

Well, it's a point of view. Personally, if buying a strength critical item like anchor chain I would prefer it to be 150% rather than 101%. Don't forget, we are not necessarily talking only of fracture, the yield point would be affected in a similar way.

Very recently I have read a couple of reports of boats in big blows where the chain stretched, turning it into almost a rigid bar. That would almost certainly not go through the gypsy, whereas the 150% stuff may well not have deformed at all.
 
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